By Keith Barry
Updated December 22, 2024
Reposted from: https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-recalls-defects/what-to-do-when-theres-no-fix-for-your-cars-recall-a8065377336/
Phyllis Blumberg was excited when she bought her Nissan Leaf Plus in 2019. An environmental advocate, she was drawn to the Leaf’s promise of reduced tailpipe emissions. She also appreciated the Plus model’s increased range and fast charging abilities.
“I wanted to be able to take trips without as much range anxiety, and this was my first venture into electric cars,” she told CR. “I have family in the New England area, and I sometimes have to drive up there.”
She wasn’t too concerned when she received a letter from Nissan in October 2024, warning that her Leaf was part of a recall of over 24,000 vehicles that could catch fire when plugged into a DC fast charger. Although the notice said she should not use a fast charger until it was fixed, it also said that a repair would be available by November.
“I said, ‘Okay, that’s reasonable, that won’t interfere with my travel. Hopefully, I’ll get it fixed by Thanksgiving,’” she told CR.
But a second letter, informing her that the fix would be delayed until the spring of 2025, threw her holiday travel plans into chaos. Instead of quickly plugging in at a DC fast charging station on her 350-mile journey, she’d have to wait hours at a slower charger, turning a day-long jaunt into an overnight trek.
Although Blumberg says she’s willing to wait as long as it takes for Nissan to ensure her car is safe to drive, she hopes the automaker makes it a priority to develop a fix. She’s already questioning whether she’ll be able to go on an environmental service trip that isn’t accessible by public transit. “It’s now limiting my ability to do what I want to do, and limiting my desire to take a vacation and see my family,” she says.
According to CR’s analysis of recall data, Blumberg is one of the millions of people in the U.S. each year who learn that their car has been recalled without the option of an immediate repair.
Owners of some Nissan Pathfinder SUVs with faulty hood latches have been waiting since 2022 for a fix that’s now promised by March 2025. Hyundai and Kia took nearly a year to develop a remedy for SUVs that can catch fire due to faulty trailer hitch wiring. And Chrysler has issued multiple recalls for fires in some Pacifica PHEV minivans.
Why Are Recalls Announced Without a Fix?
Recalls are issued by automakers under supervision from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. By law, automakers are required to issue a recall notice soon after a safety defect is discovered and confirmed, even when there’s no fix available. That strict protocol means some recall actions are initiated while the automaker is still engineering a solution. (Learn more about the automotive recall process in our Guide to Car Recalls.)
The intent is to warn consumers of a problem as soon as possible, but the gap between that and a solution can sometimes make things confusing, says Rosemary Shahan, president and founder of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS), an advocacy group.
“If you’re telling consumers, ‘Your car has a really bad problem, good luck,’ what does that do to people’s perception of the seriousness of safety recalls, and whether they really need to pay attention to them and get them fixed?” she says.
Some recall repairs are delayed due to a lack of parts. A few years ago when millions of cars with faulty Takata airbags were recalled, automakers had to prioritize fixing the most dangerous models because there simply weren’t enough replacement parts available to fix them all at once.
When it comes to recalls of plug-in hybrids and EVs, such as the Pacifica and Chevrolet Bolt (which was recalled in 2020, also due to fire concerns), delays may be related to the small number of battery suppliers and the newness of the technology. For example, both the Bolt and Pacifica use similar batteries from the same supplier, LG Chem. At the time of the recalls, a Chevrolet spokesperson told CR that it took several months for GM and LG engineers to find out why Bolts were catching fire, which ended up being a manufacturing flaw. It took more time to ensure that the manufacturing issues were resolved.
“When you have one battery supplier who is putting out batteries that are potentially catching fire, you’ll see an increase in the ‘park outside’ warnings,” says Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Automotive Safety.
In some cases, consumers are notified before a remedy is available so that they can be aware of a potential issue and take the appropriate precautions. A spokesperson for Nissan told CR that the automaker could not share more details about the delay in the repair for certain 2019 and 2020 Leaf models, but that owners will receive an additional letter inviting them to bring their vehicle in for a free fix.
How to Advocate for Yourself
So your car has been recalled and there’s no fix yet. Now what?
It depends on the severity of the recall. Some are for minor compliance issues, such as a missing warning label or misaligned headlight, while others are quite serious, related to potential engine stalling, brake failures, or fire risks. If there isn’t an immediate fix and the automaker doesn’t say the car shouldn’t be used, continue driving but be attentive to the potential issue. Recall notices often cite potential symptoms that a driver might experience, such as warning lights, that would precede a true failure.
Ultimately, the best guidance is to get the car fixed as soon as possible.
But many recent recalls have required owners to make major adjustments, such as leaving cars parked outside and away from structures, or not charging EV batteries to their full capacity. In this case, Shahan says it’s worth complaining to dealerships and manufacturers.
• First, contact your local dealership, especially if a recall notice says a car is unsafe to drive or it recommends that you limit how you use it. In such a situation, Brooks says you should at least ask your dealer for a loaner car to drive in the meantime, even if the recall notice doesn’t mention alternate transportation. Automakers can approve payment to the dealership for loaners for these customers, Brooks says. For example, Chevrolet offered free loaners to some Bolt owners during the recall.
• If that doesn’t work, contact the manufacturer directly. There’s usually a contact number and website list in the back of your owner’s manual or on the recall notice itself. The manufacturer may also be able to tell you when parts are arriving and how long the repair might take. A spokesperson for Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, told CR that accommodations for Pacifica Hybrid owners were made on a case-by-case basis.
• If a recall that’s related to a serious safety issue or is causing a major inconvenience has gone unfixed for many months, Brooks says it might be time to ask the dealership to repurchase the vehicle. “It depends on the dealership; it depends on a lot of factors,” he says. But it’s important to start the conversation. “If you don’t ask, you’re never going to get a chance for that to happen.” He says that owners of unfixable recalled vehicles should also complain to NHTSA—here’s how—because it may put pressure on the automaker to act.
• If you aren’t having any luck with the dealership or the automaker, it may be time to contact an attorney. The National Association of Consumer Advocates (consumeradvocates.org) has a “find a lawyer” page. Many attorneys don’t charge up front for taking on a case involving a product defect, but be aware that you may end up with expenses at the end of a lawsuit.
“Sometimes you have to be the squeaky wheel,” Shahan says. “They’re perfectly willing to string you along and tell you you need to be patient, but you’re not getting what you paid for. You paid for a safe, functioning car. Especially if you bought it brand new and you have the factory warranty, they’re not living up to their warranty.”
What About the Lemon Law?
Sometimes owners of cars without a recall fix can get the manufacturer to buy the car back or replace it with a new one under what’s called a Lemon Law, legislation that’s meant to protect consumers who own a product that fails repeatedly.
These laws are different in every state, so check with your state’s consumer protection office for details. For a car to be defined as a lemon, it must meet certain qualifications, said Ron Burdge, an attorney in Ohio who specializes in lemon law cases. Typically, they involve how many days a car has been out of service, how serious the defect is, and how many attempts to repair the problem have failed. “Usually, it’s three or four repair attempts within a certain amount of time,” he says.
But lemon laws have statutes of limitation. Most claims must be submitted within a year or two of the vehicle’s purchase, and most states have mileage limitations.
Even when cars qualify for a lemon law buyback, Burdge says he’s seen automakers drag their feet and fight the claim. “You might have the right to make them take it back,” he says, “but if they don’t want to voluntarily do it, you might have to get an attorney to do it for you.”
Shahan says that even the threat of a lemon law buyback was enough to help some owners of Chevy Bolt EVs who had to wait more than a year for a recall fix.
“They got refunds without even having to have an attorney,” she says. “GM just didn’t want those cases going forward in court, and under [California’s] lemon law, they face potential double damages penalty if they willfully violate the law, so that gives them a modest incentive to actually do the right thing.”
Some states also have arbitration programs as part of their lemon laws. These are usually run by the state’s department responsible for consumer affairs, or by the attorney general’s office, and they can speed up an outcome, according to Shahan. “You can submit a claim and get a decision pretty quickly, and get the law applied,” she says. For example, New York’s program allows you to file by email.
No matter what, Burdge recommends keeping detailed notes of any and all communications you have with an automaker and its representatives, and holding on to any receipts for rental cars, parking, gas, or other expenses you incurred as a result of a recall. “Keep notes of who you call, when you call, who you talk to, and what they say,” he says.
Can You Get Money Back?
In some extreme cases, automakers will offer compensation to owners of vehicles with unfixable recalls. That’s what happened with the Chevy Bolt; Chevrolet paid some owners up to $6,000, but in exchange they had to waive their right to sue the automaker.
If a large number of vehicle owners face similar economic losses due to a recall—for example, paying for gas because they can’t charge a plug-in hybrid—there’s a good chance they—and you—might be able to join a class action against the vehicle manufacturer. If the class action is successful, you may be able to get money back for your losses, such as expenses you paid out of pocket while waiting for a recall remedy.
Search the phrase “class action” and the make and model of your vehicle to find out if a current class-action lawsuit exists. Remember that there are deadlines to meet if you want to participate in such a lawsuit. If you participate in one, you give up your right to sue a company on your own.
You might get so fed up with an unfixable vehicle that you may just want to get rid of it. Burdge says that you should contact an attorney before doing so, because trading in a vehicle with an open recall may end up costing you in the long run. Some dealers may not want it, and it won’t be worth as much as a vehicle without an open recall. That’s also what CR was told when we asked dealerships about trading in specific vehicles with open recalls from our own test fleet.
“The practical solution is almost always to just simply sell it, trade it off, get rid of it, move on,” Burdge says. “While it is the practical solution, it can sometimes be the economically harsh solution, too.”
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